So we
took our first weekend trip this past weekend and had a great time. After camp
on Friday we raced back to the apartments and then had to walk like a mile to
the train station with all our luggage. (not fun) We had about a 5 hour trip
and we had to switch trains twice which was a little stressful only because the
train stations were a little hard to navigate. But we made it into Venice at
about 9pm and only got lost twice getting to our hotel. We did have a map the
problem with Venice is the maps don’t have street names and there are little no
to street signs on the actual streets either. We stayed at Hotel Trei Achi
(which means three arches, because it is right by a bridge that has 3 arches,
only took me a day to make that connection :-p) We found it last minute on
worldhostel.com and it was a tiny room with 5 single beds and a much nicer
shower then at our apartments so we were pretty happy. We attempted to go
out to dinner, but a very rude man literally kick us out of our table because
we apparently didn’t order enough for them to keep the kitchen open. It was
very strange. So we cut our losses and went back to the hotel and got some
sleep so we could get up early the next morning.
At
8:50am we boarded out train to Verona! It took about an hour and then a 20
minute walk to get to the city center, which is home to the Roman Arena. I am
such a nerd when it comes to roman architecture. I just think it is so amazing
and to think about them building it with pretty much their bare hands and some
simple machines. I just love seeing it and taking it all in. We weren’t sure if
we would have time to go inside so we headed about 5 more blocks down to the
famous Juliet’s house. It was mobbed with people in the courtyard, but not a
lot of people actually go into the house. It was only 4 euro for students so we
went up and took pictures on the balcony of course. We only stayed for about 15
minutes and then headed over to the Sanmicheli's bell tower because I read online that it
was supposedly the best thing to do in Verona. Again for students it was only 4
euro so we went to the top, and all of us had to catch our breath when we saw
the view.
Entrance to Verona Centro
The wall along to entrance to Juliet's house
Juliet's Courtyard
"The" balcony
View from the top of the bell tower
We went shopping a bit afterwards and then decided we had
just enough time to head back to the Arena. It was amazing inside and set up for
the summer opera series that is put on there. Claire and I just sat inside for
a while taking it all in. We hurried back to the train station and headed back
to Venice for the afternoon.
We took about 30 minutes to regroup in the hotel
and then Claire and I headed to Piazza San Marco while the other girls went
shopping. My only regret in Venice is not being able to go into the San Marco
Basilica but the outside was incredible so at least I got to see some of it. We
then headed up our second bell tower of the day for some amazing views of
Venice and the surrounding islands.
Bridge of Sighs
We headed back down and took a walk around the streets
around there and stopped and took some picture of the bridge of sighs. The one
that is supposed to give you luck if you kiss underneath it, but I wasn’t
really into watching a bunch of couple on gondola’s kissing under a bridge, go
figure. We were meeting to other girls at the Rialto Bridge at sunset so we
decided to head over there and get dinner before then. We ordered a bottle of
wine and took in the scenery and then had some great food. We ended up sitting
next to a wonderful Australian couple and talked to them for about an hour
about their travels and where we should go when we come to Australia, and it
was one of the best parts of the trip! They told us this amazing story about
the last time they were in Venice they had their oldest daughter with them who
was 7 at the time. They never got to go on a Gondola ride because they were on
a budget and she was having a meltdown and they had to go back to the hotel.
Before they came on this trip their daughter gave them 200 euro and said, make
sure you go on a Gondola ride this time! So cute. We ordered another bottle of
wine while chatting and we nice and toasty when we met up with the other girls.
Sunset was of course amazing!
Right afterwards we decided to take a gondola ride, it was
expensive but you know when in Venice you have to do it! It was really fun,
even though our guy was kind of a jerk. Afterwards I proved once again that my
sense of direction is better then average because I managed to get us back to
our hotel without getting lost while being a little (understatement) under the
influence of alcohol.
Gondola Ride
One of my favorite pics that I've taken on the trip
Claire, Me, Kaydee, Angelica, and Allison
(this picture was taken by a guy from Plano, go figure)
We got up on Sunday and had almost a 6 hour train ride home, with 2 stops which was grueling after the exhausting weekend, but it was all well worth it. I loved Verona and Venice and I'm so glad I got to experience them with good company. Although this weekend was hard on me emotionally (Saturday was the 3 year anniversary of my Dad's passing, and Sunday was Father's Day) it was good to be doing something I've dreamed about doing and something that I know he would be so happy I was doing. I also was able to talk with my mom, aunt, and uncle on Sunday which was really nice because not being with them has been tough. The second week of camp has started (with a bang I might add) but I'll share updates about that later.
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